of the tropical forest. But, with the
vegetation more and more resembling what we are accustomed to in
Europe, we are feeling more at home. The path winds through cool
and pleasant woods, following the varying contour of the
mountain-sides. We are no longer oppressed by the strangeness of the life
around us. At almost every turn we come across something new yet
not wholly unfamiliar. And standing out especially in our memory
of this region will be the sight of a gigantic lily rearing itself ten feet
high in the forest, and as pure in its perfect whiteness as if it had
been grown in a garden. It is the _Lilium giganteum,_ and it has
fourteen flowers on a single stalk and each 4 1/2 inches long and the
same across.

We still love most of all the white violets we have as children picked
in an English wood, and even this great white lily will never
supplant them in our affections. But the sight of that glorious plant
rising proudly from amidst the greenery of its forest setting will be
for us more than any picture. And its being "wild" has the same
fascination for us that a flower that is "wild," and not garden grown,
has for a child. In a florist's shop we may see lilies even more
beautiful than this, but the enjoyment we get from seeing the florist's
production bears no comparison whatever with the enjoyment we
get from seeing this lily in a distant Himalayan forest where not so
many white men ever go. We often have experiences which
perceptibly age us. But this is one of those experiences which most
certainly make us younger. We are once again children finding
flowers in a wood.

As we proceed upward the valley opens out, the mountains recede
and are less steep. They are also less wooded, their slopes become
more covered with grass, and the river, no longer a raging torrent,
now meanders in a broad bed. The great peaks are somewhere close
by, but we do not see the highest, and for the Himalaya the scenery
is somewhat tame. But the number of herbaceous plants is great. A
complete record of them would include most of the common genera
of Europe and North America. Among them are purple, yellow, pink,
and white primulas, golden potentillas, gentians of deepest azure,
delicate anemones, speedwells, fritillaries, oxalis, balsams, and
ranunculus. One special treasure of this part is a great red rose
_(Rosa macrophylla),_ one of the most beautiful of Himalayan
plants whose single blossoms are as large as the palm of the hand.